Folding container



1, 1950 J. CHEATHAM, JR 2,517,178

FOLDING CONTAINER Filed March 25, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l @aZ am u z Aug. 1, 1950 J. CHEATHAM, JR

FOLDING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1946 gmem to b m lm i lnN W waww Patented Aug. 1, 1950 STATS PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a foldable crate, box or other folding container and more particularly to the hinge arrangement for the side and end walls and to the fastening means for holding the sides of the container in erect position.

It is an obfect of this invention to provide a folding container in which the sides are foldable inwardly of the container to form a very compact "package for shipping the container alone.

Another object of this invention is to provide a folding container having correlated interlocking means carried by the ends of the walls of the container whereby when the sides are moved from the folded position to the erect position the interlocking means will come into complete engagement to lock the walls in the erect position, and prevent the sides from opening beyond the vertical position.

Still another object of this invention is to provide hinges for the side walls whereby the end walls fold flat against the bottom of the container and the side walls fold over the end walls, and the hinges are so disposed and constructed that the walls are prevented from unfolding beyond a vertical position.

A still further object of this invention is to provide runners fixed to the lower side of the bottom of the container for supporting the container, the runners being of such a length that they will fit between the end walls of a lower container when the open containers are stacked so the upper container will not slide oif of the lower one when the stack is moved.

To the foregoing objects, and others which may hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be more specifically referred to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes,

variations, and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container constructed according to an embodiment of this invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side view of the container in the opened position, and

Figure 5 is a side view of the container in the closed or folded position.

Referring to the drawings the numeral I0 designates generally a folding container formed with a bottom I i, a pair of hinged end walls I2 and a pair of hinged side walls I3. The end wall I2 is hingedly secured to the bottom II by a pair of hinges -I 4 which are fastened to the inside surface of the wall I2 and to the bottom I I, inwardly of the edge of the bottom I I in such a manner that the lower edge of the wall I2 abuts the upper surface of the bottom -'II when the wall I2 is in a vertical position, as shown at I5, in Figure 4, so the wall I2 is prevented from being folded outwardly beyond this vertical or perpendicular position. The end walls I2 are formed with an elongated transverse opening near the upper edge to form a handle I E at each endof the container III.

The side walls It are hingedly each secured to the bottom II by a pair of hinges ll. One leaf I8 of the hinge II is substantially longer than its correlated leaf and is bent to form aright angle having the barrel I9 inwardly of the angle thus formed. The lower side of the leaf I8 is fastened to the upper surface of the bottom II, and rises from the edge of the bottom I I so that the barrel It is above the bottom I I a distance-slightly greater than the thickness of the endwall I2, so that the side walls It may be folded over the endwalls I 2. The side walls I3 are of a height not greater than half the width of the bottom I"I, th-ough in the event they should be of a greater height the barrel of the hinges of one side wall would be high enough for the one side wall to fold fiat over the other.

A metal resilient strip 28 is fixed to the outside of each end of the side walls I2 and extends beyond the side edges of the wall. The portion of the strip 22] extending beyond the edge of the wall I2 is bent to form an outwardly opening resilient channel or keeper 2i adjacent the end of the wall I2. Another metal strip 22 is fixed to the outside of the end of the side wall I3 and extends beyond the side edges thereof. The strip 22 extending beyond the edge is bent inwardly to cover the end of the wall I3 and extends slightly beyond the inside surface of the wall I3. This latter projection is bent to form a wedge-shaped bolt or pintle 23, spaced slightly inwardly of the inner surface of the wall I3, and is adapted to be engaged in the keeper 2 I when the sides are erect.

In unfolding the walls from the folded position as shown in Figure 5, the side walls I3 are first raised to the erect position, then the end walls I2 are raised and as the end walls I2 are moved upwardly the bolt 23 comes into engagement with the resilient keeper 2| first at the lower end the strips 2|] and 22 forcing the keeper 2| open, and

as the ends 12 are further raised the entire length of the bolt 23 engages in the keeper 21 where in the completely erect position the bolt '23 is completely enclosed within the keeper 2| as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Thus the walls, when erected, are so substantially interlocked that no force from within the container will cause the walls to fold outwardly past the vertical position, and the walls are prevented from inadvertently folding inwardly to the closed position.

It will also be seen that by this arrangement the keeper 2| and bolt 23 are, when in a folded position, so located that they are protected from accidental damage. The keepers 2| will lie inwardly of the edge of the bottom H and between the bottom II and the side walls I3, while the bolts 23 will lie inwardly of the ends of the bottom 1 I and between the walls l3 and the bottom II.

A pair of runners or supporting strips 25 are fixed to the lower side of the bottom ll to raise the container slightly from the floor to facilitate handling. The runners 25 are shorter than the bottom it and are slightly shorter than the distance between the end walls 12, so that the containers may be stacked and the runners 25 of the upper containers will fit into the space of the lower containers to prevent the upper containers from sliding when the stack is being moved.

The exact configuration illustrated is regarded as the optimum, but some of the desirable results inherent in this disclosure may be obtained by various slight modifications including some departure from the exact configuration shown, and it is therefore requested that the scope of the invention should be regarded as limited only by the terms of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A container comprising a bottom, pairs of inwardly foldable side and end walls hingedly connected to said bottom, said side walls being adapted to overlie said end walls in the folded position thereof, elongated members secured to the opposite side edges of each of said end walls and extending substantially the entire length thereof, each of said members including an outwardly opening longitudinally extending beaded portion, a locking member secured to the opposite end edges of each of said side walls and extending substantially the entire length thereof, each of said locking membersincluding a flanged portion extending at right angles to said side walls and an inwardly reverted wedge-shaped member extending along the edge of said flange and adapted to lockingly engage in the beaded portion of the adjacent elongated member when said end walls and side walls are in upright position for securing said walls together.

2. A container comprising a bottom, pairs of inwardly foldable side and end walls hingedly connected to said bottom, said side walls being adapted to overlie said end walls in the folded position thereof, keeper members secured to the opposite side edges of each of said end walls, each of said keeper members including a plate extending substantially the length of the side edge and an outwardly opening slotted tube formed integrally with said plate along an edge thereof, a locking member secured to the opposite end edges of each of said side walls and extending substantially the length thereof, each of said locking members including a right angular flange, an elongated wedge member formed integral with said flange and having spaced apart resilient portions adapted to engage in said slotted tube through the slot thereof for securing said pairs of walls together in the upright position thereof.

JAMES CHEATI-IAM, JR.

REFERENCES QITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 590,394 Hart Sept. 21, 1897 593,404 Prechtel Nov. 9, 1897 644,796 Drew Mar. 6, 1900 697,037 Steuterman Apr. 8, 1902 900,173 Johnson Oct. 6, 1908 1,123,461 Amman Jan. 5, 1915 1,546,887 Eaton July 21, 1925 2,000,466 Howard May 7, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,357 Great Britain 1907 

